The fate of House Tula
by Mithrandir1776
Summary: It is several years before the events of the Ocarina of Time, and the noble house of Tula is rising to the highest economic standing among the noble houses of Hyrule. Its members know nothing of their fate...


Gwen Tula was the daughter of Gury and Merra Tula; she was youngest child of four in the noble Hylian house of Tula, which is the ancient Hylian word for spider. Her family was the wealthiest of the noble Hylian houses, but Gwen knew little of such affairs because of her young age. The house of Tula had risen from the lowliest of the noble houses, and the only house whose manor was in Kakariko Village as opposed to castle town, to the wealthiest and most influential house in just a few years. This was thanks to Gury Tula's keen nose for business. Merra Tula had become pregnant during this upturn in the family's fortune, and was now only a few weeks away from giving birth. As the Tula family grew in influence, they spent more time at Hyrule castle, attending royal banquets and discussing politics, and as a result, Gwen became fast friends with the young princess Zelda.

One day, Gwen and Zelda were picking flowers together in the castle garden when Zelda's face went a little dark, as if she was remembering something which upset her. Gwen was worried about her friend, and asked, "Are you alright, Zelda? What's bothering you?"

"Oh, nothing, really… I had a strange dream last night," replied Zelda. "These flowers just made me think of it. In my dream, all of the flowers in this field wilted and died."

Gwen's interest was now piqued. She didn't want to further upset her friend, but her curiosity overcame her. "Why? What happened to them?"

Zelda sighed. "In my dream, the sun became very hot. So hot that all of Hyrule became like the Gerudo desert. All of the flowers wilted, and soon the castle caught on fire. All of the people in castle town began to fall over because they were so thirsty. Everyone was suffering except the new emissary from the Gerudo Valley. He was riding through the center of town on a black horse, just laughing."

Gwen was a little taken aback. She and Zelda had talked about their dreams before, but this was by far the scariest thing either of them had ever dreamed. She tried to comfort Zelda. "Oh, come now. You know that's silly. The new Gerudo emissary is supposed to be a wonderfully kind man. I overheard my father talking to him just the other day about striking some sort of business deal."

"Oh, I know," replied Zelda. "It was just a dream. I'll still feel a little weird about him for a while, though. What was his name again? Grandorf?"

"Something like that," said Gwen. "Anyway, do you want to hear about my dream?"

OOO

"But they were just talking about opening a bombchu bowling alley there," said Gury. "I still don't see why we need an arms shop in castle town. Isn't the blacksmith enough?"

"Perhaps… But aren't they more focused on selling things like shields?" replied Ganondorf. "I really think a place that sold swords and spears, or even halberds would be a great financial success within the walls."

Gury thought on this for a moment, and then replied: "I do see your point. It's rather difficult for a citizen to find weapons in this town, but I really don't see the need. The guards have their weaponry supplied by the King's armory, so they wouldn't need to use the shop. Foreigners like the Gerudos –"Gury paused. "No offense..."

"None taken," replied Ganondorf.

Gury continued: "Anyway, foreigners like the Gerudos aren't allowed to have weapons while in town anyway, and the citizens of Hyrule are very safe. There's hardly any danger in castle town or Kakariko Village, and all of the roads throughout the land are safe. If the shop gets enough business to break even, I'd be surprised."

"You may yet be surprised," replied Ganondorf. It looked to Gury as if he was pondering something very deeply.

"Gury, you've been my best friend since I came to Hyrule as the Gerudo emissary. You've stood with me on politics and business, and you've supported me in my time of need. How would you feel if I shared a very deep secret with you?"

Gury was a little troubled by this. What Ganondorf had said was true, but he couldn't imagine what this secret might have to do with their business endeavor. Nonetheless, he cautiously agreed.

"Alright. You can trust me," he said.

"Are you absolutely sure? There's no going back on this once you know," Ganondorf said.

Gury was now too curious to go back. "I'm sure. Lay it on me!"

"I am not only the Gerudo Emissary. I am also the king of the Gerudo," Ganondorf said. "If you ever travel to the Gerudo Valley, you will notice that there are very few men. The reason for this is that only one male Gerudo is born every hundred years, and he is destined to be their king." Ganondorf paused for a moment to let this sink in.

Gury was shocked. "I'd heard the rumors, but I always assumed them to be a mixture of hearsay and racist babbling… There is really only one male Gerudo born every one hundred years? And he is king? … And you are him?"

"Yes," replied Ganondorf, his face very serious. "It is a very well-kept secret. There are Hylian men who live in the valley, and they help to dissipate the rumors. The truth, however, is that most of them are carpenters and have no affiliation with our tribe. Now, let me tell you the true meaning of all of this. As a young man, one of the elder sisters of our tribe spoke over me in ancient Hylian. The prophecy translates roughly to this: 'He who rules the Gerudo shall rule Hyrule. To gain the strength of the gods, he must find courage and wisdom, for he shall have power engraved upon his hand.'" At this, Ganondorf lifted up his hand and showed Gury the back of his fist. On the back of Ganondorf's hand was the Triforce, a symbol consisting of three yellow triangles arranged to form one larger triangle with a smaller, colorless triangle upside down in the middle. The yellow triangle at the top of the Triforce was glowing with an otherworldly luster. "The Triforce of Power," Ganondorf explained, "is within me. I hold the strength of the Goddess Din, and I need only find the strength of the other two Goddesses in order to fulfill my destiny. The Wisdom of Nayru and the Courage of Farore are what I seek."

"How exciting!" began Gury. "You're destined to be the next king! Of course it makes sense… The King only has a daughter, Zelda. Once he passes, you'll become king is his place! That'll surely help to lessen discrimination against the Gerudos here in Hyrule. What a wonderful destiny! Just let me know if there is any way I can help in your quest to find favor with Nayru and Farore!"

Ganondorf stared at his friend for a moment, and gave a little half smile. He was clearly still troubled. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Gury, my friend. I would never be named heir to the throne. The king, as wise as he may be, would sooner name a daughter ruler of Hyrule than a Gerudo."

Gury cut in, "I'm sure he'll think differently once you have the favor of all three Goddesses! Surely that's what the prophecy meant, don't you think?"

"Again, Gury, it is not that simple," Ganondorf continued. "You see, as the Triforce of Power is within me, the Triforce of Wisdom is within the young princess Zelda, and the Triforce of Courage is hidden within a boy hiding somewhere deep in the Kokiri forest. We must… 'dispose' of both of them in order to obtain the full power of the Triforce. It should be easy enough to handle the boy… the only difficulty is finding him. Once he is gone and I have the courage of Farore, we will have to deal with the castle guards… That's where this armory comes in, you see, a group of Gerudo warriors will enter the city under the guise of circus players, then…"

"You plan to murder two children, one of them the princes, no less, and invade castle town?!" Gury was awestruck, furious, and hurt as he shouted these words.

"You must understand, Gury. It's my destiny. It's the only way…" Ganondorf was now looking pointedly at Gury.

Gury returned with a furious rant: "Some destiny, Ganondorf. If your destiny calls for murder and a military coup, then I'd suggest finding a new one. I can't believe you'd think for a moment that I'd help you. I've been nothing but kind to you since you entered the city, but to murder the princess? For Nayru's sake, she's my daughter's best friend! If you're going to be king of the Gerudo, you should start acting like the king of a nation and less like the king of… evil."

Ganondorf looked up. The sanity in his eyes was gone, and a fire red fury replaced it. "This is my destiny, Gury," he said quietly. "I thought you might share in it. I thought you could be my right hand… I thought I could trust you. Apparently, I was wrong."

Gury moved to interrupt, but Ganondorf continued, this time in a louder voice. His eyes grew red, and his hair seemed to stand on end as he spoke. "And even if you won't help me, I will fulfill my destiny. I have the Triforce of power. I will kill Zelda. I will have the Triforce in its entirety, and I will have the throne!"

Gury interrupted. "No, Ganondorf. You've gone too far this time. I'm calling the guards right now."

Ganondorf erupted in fury. He looked almost inhuman. His mouth was frothing, and his eyes were gleaming with deep red. His red hair swayed and stood on end as if it was on fire, and his face seemed distorted, almost resembling that of a monstrous boar. "DO YOU THINK I LACK THE POWER TO STOP YOU? I AM KING. I AM POWER. THIS IS MY DESTINY! YOU, GURY TULA. GURY SPIDER. YOU ARE AS VERMIN TO ME. MAY THE NAME OF YOUR HOUSE BECOME YOUR DESTINY!"

With that, Ganondorf struck Gury a powerful blow to the forehead, knocking him unconscious. He slowly returned to normal and wiped the froth from his mouth. He looked at Gury's unconscious form, sneered, and then left the room where they had met to discuss business.

OOO

When Gury awoke, he was in the den of his house in Kakariko Village with ice over his forehead. A maid stood over him. As soon as he was fully conscious, he shot up, and said: "I have very important information! I must inform the king immediately!"

"It can' be as important as what's goin' on right now!" interrupted the maid. "Your wife is givin' birth! She an' tha midwife are just in the next room; you oughta go an see 'er!"

"But, Ganondorf…" objected Gury.

"Go on an' see Merra!" The maid interrupted again. "The guards told us all about how tha' vase fell on your head! Ganondorf reported it soon as it happened!"

"Vase…" Gury muttered angrily, putting two and two together.

"No time! You're going to miss your child's birth!" The maid was nearly shoving Gury into the room where his wife was.

Just as Gury was entering the room, however, he heard his wife's shrill scream. A red-handed midwife rammed into Gury as she fled the room. A look of horror was in her eyes, and she was hyperventilating; apparently she was too terrified to scream. He could hear the maid's exclamation of surprise behind him as the midwife ran past her, dragging her out of the house. A feeling of dread fell over Gury, but he entered the room as quickly as possible.

The sight he beheld was straight from his most twisted nightmares. A creature built of human flesh and bone, but in the shape of an arachnid was attacking his wife, who was lying, still blood splattered, on the table in the middle of the room. It had the skull of a human newborn on what would be the spider's back, and the jaw of the skull opened horizontally instead of vertically to create the pinching jaws of a spider. Gury entered just in time to see the new-born atrocity bite through the throat of Merra Tula. He rushed to the aid of his wife, but as he began to run, he felt something burst out of his sides, and an agonizing pain seized him. He keeled over as blood poured from this strange new wound and looked down. Two of his ribs had burst from each of his sides at perpendicular angles from his body, and were quickly growing into what appeared to be arachnid-like appendages. Even as he saw this, his head began to crane back and he could feel his skull becoming larger and flatter. The pain was unimaginable. He remembered the words of Ganondorf… "You, Gury Tula. Gury spider. You are as vermin to me. May the name of your house become your destiny."

Gury heard an agonizing scream from the doorway. He saw his daughter Gwen standing there, surveying the scene in awestruck terror. He rushed to her using all eight appendages, but even as he did so, he saw that she had begun to undergo the same process that he had. She was crying and screaming, "Daddy, make it stop! Make it stop!" Gury was powerless to help. His pointed arachnid limbs could only pierce her tender young flesh, and could not prevent the change which was seizing her.

Gury heard more screams of pain throughout the house which he recognized as those of his three older sons. The spider which had emerged from his wife's womb, the skull Tula, had begun to take on a golden hue. Gury made a lunge at it, attempting to pierce it with his new, sharpened appendages, but to no avail. It escaped from the house, and the remainder of the Tula family was left to contemplate its fate.

"Folks around here tell of a fabulously rich family that once lived in one of the houses in this village... But they say that the entire family was cursed due to their greed! Who knows what might happen to those who are consumed by greed..."

— Shikashi, The Legend of Zelda, The Ocarina of Time


End file.
